Lightning-arrester for wire fences



(No Model.)

W. A. MORTON.

LIGHTNING ARRESTER FOR WIRE FENCES.

' No. 319.300. Patented June 2, 1885.

nll liw WILLIAM ARTHUR MORTON, OF

PATENT ()FFICE.

ABILENE, KANSAS.

LlGHTNlNG-ARRESTER FOR WIRE FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 319,300, dated June 2,1885.

Application filed August 28, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ARTHUR MORTON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Abilene, in the county of Dickinson and State ofKansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLightning-Arresters for Wire Fences, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide means to be used inconnection with wire barbed or other metallic-strand fences for thepurpose of protecting live stock from electric shocks given off by saidfence during storms.

It is well known that during electric storms live stock is often injuredby shocks received from wire fences, the strands acting as conduetors ofelectric fluid, and the object of this invention is to provide anelectrical conductor having such connection with the fence-strands as todivert any electric fluid passing along said strands into the ground;and the invention consists in certain features of construction hereindescribed,and specifically set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fenceprovided with lightningarrcsters constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a modification, and Fig. 3 a detail in perspective.

Like letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

A. represents the posts, and B B B the strands, of a wire fence. Thestrands, although here represented as being of wire, may be of strips orother forms of sheet metal, and, in fact, my improvement is designed andreadily applicable to any forms of fence in which the panels are ofmetal.

(3 represents one form of an arrester,which consists of a wire or stripof suitable metal, preferably one that is a better conductor than thematerial of the strands of the fence-for example, copper-the strandsbeing iron, and, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the arrester serves themechanical function of a stay to the strands of the fence, by beingcoiled about them so as to maintain them at uniform distances from eachother, thereby preventing their separation by live stock. The arresteror stay is coiled at 0 about the upper strand 1?, at (J about the middi,strand B, and at 0 about the lower strand, l3", and is continued for asufficient'depth into the ground, and connected to a copper disk orplate, 0.

D represents an insulator, which may be made of rubber, glass, or anyother suitable, material, and which is inclose'd in the coils of thearrester and about the strands, so that an electric current passingthrough said strand is prevented from being led off by the arrester atthe point where the insulator occurs. By a proper disposition of theinsulators succes sive strands in the fence may be electricallyconnected to certain stays, so that each stay shall conduct the fluidfrom but one strand in the fenceas, for example, in the middle panel inFig. 1 the stay is insulated from the upper and lower strands, therebyadapting it to act as an arrester of the electric fluid in the middlestrand only, by reason of its contact therewith at C while in the rightpanel (shown in Fig. 1) the stay is insulated from the upper and middlestrands, and acts as an arrester of electric fluid in the lower strandonly.

The insulator D is preferably made in a sub stantially cylindricalform,with a slot, D, (see Fig. 3,) to facilitate the application thereofto the strand. It may be made of glass molded to the shape shownthatis,with or it may beSo without the terminal flanges D the purpose ofwhich is to prevent the removal of the stay longitudinally therefrom.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the strands of the fence are allcoiled about astay, O, as at my, and an insulator, D, is insertedbetween the ends of the panels thus formed, and these ends are boundtogetherthat is to say, the stays C and the insulator D are boundtogether by means of a coil or coils of wire or any other suitableclamping device which is, itself separate from contact with the stays Cby insulating material D. In this modification one of the stays O isconnected with the disk or plate 0*, and, if desired, both of the staysmaybe continued into the ground, one of them not being connected withthe disk. or plate, so that either or both conjointly (see dotted lines)may serve the purpose of a post, if desired.

The operation of the modified construction of the stays or posts isreadily apparent. Electric fluid passing along all of the strands isintercepted by the main insulating substance D, and is diverted down thestays G into the ground, and is diffused by the disk or plate 0'. 5 Theplate 0' is preferably embedded in the ground to such a depth as to bein damp earth continually, so as to act to diffuse theelectric currentreceived by the same from the strands. Having described my invention andits IO operation, what I claim is 1. The combination of the strands B BB', the arrester G, the insulators D D, and plate J", substantially asshown and described.

2. The combination of the strands B B 13*, and a series of arresters, 0,each of which has 15 direct contact with one of the strands and isinsulated from direct contact with the remaining strands, and each ofwhich is connected directly with an embedded electrical diffusion plate,substantially as shown and described. 20

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM ABTH UR MORTON.

Witnesses:

M. V. BRILLIIART, H. F. BENEDIeT.

